Tomorrow will see Pascal Bonitzer’s Hugo (toplined by Fabrice Luchini) opening the 38th Angers European First Film Festival (running 17 to 25 January), an event which has helped shine a light, since its early days, on scores of young talent from the Old Continent, many of whom have since confirmed their potential within the highest ranks of European arthouse cinema.

The 10 feature films battling it out in this year’s international competition will be pored over by a jury led by director Thomas Cailley who’ll be supported by Laura Wandel, India Hair and Antoine Reinartz. These movies notably include Sundays [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
scheda film] by Spain’s Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (triumphant in San Sebastián), What Marielle Knows [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Frédéric Hambalek
scheda film] by Germany’s Frédéric Hambalek (unveiled in competition in Berlin), Wild Foxes [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Valéry Carnoy
scheda film] by Belgium’s Valéry Carnoy (awarded the Europa Cinemas Label and crowned the SACD’s Film Crush in the Directors’ Fortnight) and Pillion [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by British director Harry Lighton (awarded Best Screenplay in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section).

Likewise in on the action are Silent Rebellion [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marie-Elsa Sgualdo
scheda film] by Switzerland’s Marie-Elsa Sgualdo (presented in Venice’s Spotlight line-up), Deaf [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Eva Libertad
scheda film] by Spain’s Eva Libertad (the winner of the Audience Award in Berlin’s Panorama section), the Italian-Moroccan-American animation Bouchra [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Orian Yani Barki and Meriem Bennani (discovered in Toronto’s Platform line-up), The Last One for the Road [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Francesco Sossai
scheda film] by Italy’s Francesco Sossai (unveiled in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section), The Son and the Sea [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Stroma Cairns, Imogen West
scheda film] by British director Stroma Cairns (discovered in Toronto and also screened in San Sebastian’s New Directors showcase) and A Light that Never Goes Out by Finland’s Lauri-Matti Parppei (selected in Cannes’ ACID line-up).

The competitive Diagonale section, revolving around especially audacious works, notably includes the feature films Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gabriel Azorín
scheda film] by Spain’s Gabriel Azorín (discovered in Venice’s Giornate degli Autori line-up), Before/After [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Manoël Dupont
scheda film] by Belgium’s Manoël Dupont (screened in Karlovy Vary’s Proxima competition), the documentary Autostop by Switzerland’s Roman Hüben, and the animated movie Dandelion’s Odyssey [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Momoko Seto
scheda film] by Japan’s Momoko Seto (unveiled in Cannes’ Critics’ Week and triumphant in Annecy).

Stealing focus among the various premieres on the festival agenda are La maison des femmes by Mélisa Godet, Silent Friend [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ildikó Enyedi
scheda film] by Hungary’s Ildikó Enyedi, Grand ciel [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Akihiro Hata
scheda film] by Hakihiro Hata, the animated movie Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Irene Iborra
scheda film] by Spain’s Irene Iborra Rizo, Couture [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Alice Winocour, Louis Garrel
scheda film] by Alice Winocour, The Testament of Ann Lee [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Norway’s Mona Fastvold, Urchin [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Harris Dickinson
scheda film] by British director Harris Dickinson, Le Gâteau du président by Iraq’s Hasan Hadi (set to close the festival), and three documentaries, namely IN-I in Motion by Juliette Binoche, The Return of the Projectionist [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Orkhan Aghazadeh
scheda film] by Azerbaijan’s Orkhan Aghazadeh and Life After Siham by Egyptian-born French director Namir Abdel Meseeh.

The line-up also includes, among other events, focus sessions and retrospectives (dedicated to actresses Karin Viard and Laetitia Dosch, who’ll also be meeting with the public, German filmmaker Werner Hertzog, the city of Naples in film, and courtroom dramas), short film competitions (with Iris Kaltenbäck heading up the jury), the Angers Workshops, and the usual screenplay readings (primarily for the feature films Chien noir by Nyima Cartier, Une de perdue, une de perdue by Mathilde Elu and Tu feras tomber les rois by Maïté Sonnet).